Oakland County economic development officials and real estate brokers are scrambling to learn more about a $1 billion Chinese biotech firm's plans to open a 270,000 square-foot research campus in the area.

Singapore-based Kositech Scientific AG has secured an existing location in Oakland County, where it plans to spend as much as $300 million to open a DNA research facility that will employ up to 600 workers, including 400 new hires.

Robert RameyKositech's recently announced site for a facility in Jackson County.

But the company, which said it plans to make a formal announcement in Michigan in November, won't disclose the specific location.

The company also is backing off an earlier report that it would locate the facility in Troy.

Kositech, a medical device and pharmaceutical products company with more than $1 billion in annual revenue, announced recently it would open a $10 million North American headquarters in Jackson County's Grass Lake as part of an aggressive expansion into North America.

The company said the facility, a vacant nursing home with frontage on Interstate 94, is expected to create 100 new jobs and will be within 75 miles of the new Detroit-area campus.

Company officials said they chose Michigan because of its existing life science talent pool and the presence of the University of Michigan. It chose Grass Lake for its new North American headquarters because of its proximity to Detroit and Chicago.

"We feel there's a positive business environment in Michigan right now for high tech, especially with biotech," said Kevin Coonce, Kositech's director of North American operations. "With the downsizing of Pfizer in Ann Arbor, (it) has opened a large scientific pool in the state that is looking for career changes."

There is no indication the company has made requests for state tax incentives with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Oakland County officials have had only minimal contact with Kositech since learning of the company's plans, said Maureen Krauss, deputy economic development director.

The privately held research and manufacturing firm, which was launched by a German scientist in 1972 from a two-room office and laboratory, develops pharmaceuticals such as pain inhibitors and beta blockers. It also develops cardiac and ultrasound medical equipment for marketing and sale under other brand names.

Kositech boasts 6,000 employees among its Singapore headquarters, an R&D facility in Bangkok, Thailand, manufacturing operations in Ghana and China and other facilities.

Kositech has moved quickly in North America; it opened its first executive and sales offices in the region in Toronto in early 2006.

Coonce acknowledged he made earlier reference to Troy "in a casual conversation" with a reporter but was "referring to Troy as a general geographic area." The new facility, he said, "will be located in Oakland County."

Troy has no applications on file for building permits or tax abatements or any other information from the company, said Brian Murphy, assistant city manager for economic development services. Economic development officials in Rochester Hills, Southfield and Auburn Hills, all office space-rich cities, also said they had no information about the company's plans.

The company plans to use an existing facility for the new campus, Coonce said.

"The metropolitan Detroit campus will be dedicated to improving health and longevity as it relates to the science of DNA research," Winston wrote. "Specifically, some of the research currently planned for the campus include: DNA therapy, DNA sequencing and genotyping, as well as other related fields."

The new Oakland County facility will be one of two R&D campuses planned for the Great Lakes region, Winston said. He declined to say where the other campus would be located, but said Kositech has pledged $500 million combined for the two campuses and the Grass Lake headquarters.

The company will ultimately employ more than 1,500 among the three new facilities, including roughly 1,000 new hires, Winston said.

"We are in fact currently involved in advanced negotiations for another location outside the metropolitan Detroit area," he said, adding that he could not divulge any more information about that project.

The $500 million figure includes the cost of facilities, equipment, furnishings and other relocation expenses, he said.

The company said it plans to renovate and expand the vacant 53,000 square-foot facility in Grass Lake, which will consolidate existing offices in Toronto and Los Angeles when it begins operating in September 2008. It will house administrative, clerical and sales offices. The Oakland County campus is expected to open by the end of 2008.